Miscellaneous 3-27-2012

So we have been super busy lately getting ready for someone's FOURTH birthday and hence not much blog activity.  My apologies!  Also, there is always a lot going on in Dallas in the spring and fall because that is when it is tolerable to be outdoors.  So we've been busy bees!

Or busy butterflies.  This is the angel after a birthday party which featured face painting (so guess who wants it at their birthday party?)

These two have been so precious together lately.  When we are walking anywhere, Bobo will NOT hold my hand.  But if he doesn't, he'll run off.  Luckily, he will hold Gigi's hand (only Gigi) and walk wherever she leads him.  Gigi has been super sleepy (and grouchy) in the mornings lately but if I bring Bobo in to wake her up she rolls over and with eyes still closed, opens her arms up wide and he snuggles in there to give her a hug.  It is seriously the cutest thing ever.

My poor sick baby :(  Luckily it was a quick virus with no throwing up.  And we spent most of the day snuggling and watching movies.  Yea!

 I had to take a picture of this cute outfit.  I wish I had a rainbow shirt and pants!

 

Gigi requested a Barbie party for her fourth birthday.  I wasn't too pumped about that theme, but a friend suggested that they'd seen some cute "vintage Barbie" stuff.  After a little searching, I found a few pictures on the internet but I was kind of disappointed I didn't find a lot of Barbie-themed parties on party planning websites.  Fear not world, I will do a detailed post of our Barbie party!

I always want G to have a cute birthday outfit so I made her this shirt using the same principles as in this post. But this time I did sew a zig-zag stitch around the silhouette which took for-ev-er. 

These are terrible pictures but my friend Erin of Between the Sheets made the cutest invitations for the party. 

(Front)

 (Back)

 I made Bobo these pants using this tutorial.  They're so cute on him.

I made this spaghetti casserole that I've seen about 10,000 times on Pinterest.  It was good, but next time I'd use about half the package of spaghetti instead of the whole package.

Last summer was so hot some of our azaleas died.  There was also an incident with weed killer which we now know kills a lot more than weeds.  It will kill your beautiful, 18-inch tall begonias that you'd been watering twice a day to keep them alive in the record-breaking heat.  And azaleas.  Luckily a few survived.  Don't believe the label on that weed killer when it says it's safe for plants!

So pretty!

Gigi and Bobo have invented (well they think they invented it) a game they call "chase."  It involves starting at the pantry and running to the washing machine and laughing hysterically.  It's super fun.

It's really cute though and doesn't involve messing up the playroom so I'm fine with this, until someone gets hurt.

Since Bobo cannot possibly outrun Gigi he cheats and turns around before he reaches his destination.

Hope you've been having a great March!

(Slightly) Healthier Fettuccine Alfredo

I have been trying to find "the perfect" cream sauce for pasta for a while now, and I think I may have finally found it!  One day I even threw caution to the calorie count and tried making authentic Alfredo sauce but it was so rich I got a tummy ache.  This version isn't exactly healthy, but it's definitely healthier than heavy whipping cream!

(Slightly) Healthier Fettuccine Alfredo (with chicken)

1 lb fettuccine

1 lb chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, diced

2 tbsp flour

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups whole milk

4 oz (1/2 a block) Neufchatal cheese

2 cups parmesan cheese, shredded

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

dash of nutmeg (optional)

1 tbsp fresh parsley (optional)

Get your fettuccine started first because it's a thick pasta and needs to boil for a while.  I used 3/4ths of the box. 

In case you don't know what a shallot looks like, here is one.  Something my mom definitely didn't cook with!  It seems like cooking has changed a lot since the Food Network came into being.  Like remember how no one cooked with real garlic?  That was unheard of.  All old recipes reference garlic powder.  Anyhoo~

Chop your shallot into very small pieces, which is a little difficult.

Grate a ton of parmesan cheese!  I really didn't measure it, I just grated until my arm hurt.  Probably about 2 cups.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add olive oil.  Saute shallots until soft-ish.  About 2 minutes.

Add flour and stir to combine.  The mixture should be smooth of any lumps and paste-y.

Add chicken broth and stir to combine.  A whisk really helps get the lumps out.  Let it heat up for a few minutes.

Add milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Stir to combine and let heat a few minutes more.

Add parmesan cheese and stir to combine.

I'm not entirely sure what Neufchatal cheese is.  It's similar in calorie content to reduced fat cream cheese, but it seems to be a lot creamier.  I really like the texture.  Anyway, it looks just like cream cheese.

Add half the block to your sauce.  Break it up with your spoon and whisk to combine. 

Add your chicken (if applicable).  One day a few months ago there was a big sale on chicken breasts so I bought a bunch, separated them into Italian, Mexican and plain.  I marinated/seasoned them accordingly and grilled them because I like chicken breast when it's grilled 100x more than baked in the oven.  I chopped and froze them in 1 lb bags.  The day before I made this dish I put my 1 lb of Italian chicken in the refrigerator and right before adding to the sauce I microwaved the bag for 1 minute.  It turned out great!

Bring your sauce to a boil, then reduce to low and let it cook 2-3 more minutes.  Pour over your fettuccine and let set for 2-3 more minutes.

Serve hot with a little fresh parsley and extra parmesan cheese on top (optional). 

These two really liked it, although they both ate all their broccoli first.  And I didn't even bribe them!

I'm sorry but I have to brag - look at these plates!  My little veggie eaters.  Now if I could just figure out how to get Gigi to eat fruit.

Recipe: Chicken Parmesan

 

I know there's probably a thousand chicken parmesan recipes out there but mine is a little bit different.  It got its inspiration from the pinnacle of Italian cuisine known as . . . Olive Garden.  Several years ago Olive Garden was serving a "stuffed" chicken parmesan.  They sent out coupons with a picture of a chicken breast with a beautiful golden brown crust that had been cut open and had ooey, gooey cheese oozing out.  A-Dub was sold.  Off we went to Olive Garden.  The experience did not live up to the advertising.  There was only a tiny smidge of cheese.  There was no oozing.  Big disappointment.  I thought--as I often do--I could do this at home!  And do a better job!  Although you do have to provide your own salad and breadsticks.

Chicken Parmesan

Tools needed:

Meat hammer with a flat side (I think mine is OXO brand)

Roll of waxed paper

Ingredients:

2 chicken tenderloins for every 1 serving (I have found that big bags of tenders like this below tend to have larger tenders that are better for this recipe than the flat 1 pound packages)

2 cups shredded mozzarella 

2-3 eggs

1 cup milk

2 cups Italian breadcrumbs

1 cup shredded (or powdered) parmesan cheese

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp Italian spices (spices mixed together)

4 tbsp olive oil

1 pkg spaghetti

1 jar marinara sauce

First you need to go through all of your tenders and pick out ones that are a good size and that are like-sized because you're going to pair up tops and bottoms.  I made 7 servings so I have 14 tenders.

Next you need to prepare your breadcrumbing stations.  I hate dirtying up two big dishes but I have found that my two 8x8 Pyrex dishes work the best.  I have tried using regular dinner plates and it is a huge mess.

In the first dish combine 2-3 eggs and 1 cup milk and scramble with a fork.  I love that Bobo is drinking whole milk now so I get to use it in all my cooking.  I always have to sneak a big swig of it.  So yummy.

In your second dish combine Italian breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Italian spices.  Stir together with your hands.  I know it looks like a lot.  This recipe uses a lot of breadcrumbs.

Now it's time to pound some chicken!  Tear off 2 sheets of waxed paper for every 4 servings or so.  Make them about 18 inches long.  You could do two small sheets for each chicken tender.  I combined some to save paper because I was running out.

Stagger the chicken on the bottom piece of waxed paper and place the other sheet on top.

Pound the tenders with the flat side of the meat hammer until they are very thin.

They are probably 1/4 to 1/8 of an inch thick.  Repeat with all of the tenderloins.

Set out 1 cup shredded mozzarella near your breading stations.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Caaaaaaaaaarefully peel the wax paper off of two like-sized flattened tenderloins and lay one flat on a plate.  If any of your tenders are falling apart at this point, it's okay.  Just use the one that is more intact for the bottom.  I had one that was basically just held together by the suspicious "string" that runs down the middle of these tenders.  What is that???

Generously spread mozzarella cheese along your bottom piece of chicken.

Carefully lay your "top" chicken tender over the cheese.

Pat down a little bit to secure the top and bottom.

I could not get action shots of me doing these next steps because it required both hands and A-Dub was not available to take pictures.


Using both hands, carefully scoop up the chicken tender in your hand and place in the egg mixture.  Your only goal is to get it in there in one piece without all of the cheese falling out.  You will definitely lose some cheese, you just don't want to lose all of it.

Don't try to flip it over--just scoop up some egg mixture and spread it around on the top of the chicken.  Did I mention this recipe is extremely messy?  Just wait until you get breadcrumbs all over your eggy fingers.

Using the same scooping action as before, carefully transfer your chicken to the breadcrumbs.  From here out it's a piece of cake.  The breadcrumbs hold it all together!

Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top to coat.  You can even flip it over to get lots on there.

Pick up chicken and transfer to your skillet with the heated oil.

Because your chicken is so thin, it only needs 3-4 minutes to cook per side.

When you flip it over, you want it to be a nice golden brown like this.

Top with a little extra mozzarella and let it melt.

Cook your spaghetti while waiting for the other chickens to cook.

I should probably try to sell this recipe to Sandra Lee because of the jar of Prego!  Some may turn up their noses, but I love Prego and well, what's good enough for Ned Powers is good enough for me!  I even microwaved it--lazy!

It JUST occurred to me that I should have taken a picture with the chicken cut open so you could see the cheese.  It doesn't ooze out as dramatically as the Olive Garden's advertisement chicken, but it does ooze better than what Olive Garden actually served in their restaurant!

One day I will write more about A-Dub's nickname "the Food Nazi."  But long story short, he is a health nut.  If I dared serve dinner with no vegetables, I would definitely hear about it.  I do agree that vegetables should be part of every dinner.  I'll even go one further--I think every dinner should include a protein, a carb and a vegetable.  Tomato sauce doesn't count.  Since a lot of Italian dishes don't have vegetables, I always have to come up with a side to go with them.  I used to make salads, but it was a lot of work (washing, chopping, etc.) and no one would eat it--definitely not the kids.  Lately my go-to Italian dinner side is zucchini and squash, steamed with Italian spices and a little butter.  I use those Ziploc steam bags and it takes 2 minutes.  Super easy and squash and zucchini are super cheap!


Be sure to top with some more parmesan cheese.  After all, it is chicken parmesan!

A-Dub thought he didn't look good and said "don't put me on your blog!"

Monkey see, monkey do!

This guy doesn't mind!